TOPEKA — The Republican-led Kansas House failed Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a tax reform bill anchored by implementation of a single, flat state income tax rate of 5.25% in addition to elimination of the state sales tax on groceries and creation of a tax exemption for all Social Security income.
The GOP holds supermajorities in the House and Senate, but there was skepticism that both chambers could muster two-thirds majorities necessary to rebuke Kelly given opposition among conservative and moderate Republicans to parts of the three-year, $1.6 billion tax cut favoring the state’s most wealthy. During the past several weeks, House Speaker Dan Hawkins indicated he had the votes for an override but was concerned about passage in the Kansas Senate.
Hawkins, of Wichita, and House Majority Leader Chris Croft, of Overland Park, said it was “irresponsible and unacceptable that Governor Kelly and her allies chose to play politics and deny meaningful tax relief to all Kansans.”
“A burgeoning budget surplus and careful vetting of HB 2284 reveal the absurdity of their arguments,” the GOP House leaders said. “The Democrats’ games are played at the expense of real people who need relief now. House Republicans are committed to putting the people of Kansas before election year gamesmanship.”
Kelly said the decision of House members to sustain her veto was a win for working-class Kansans who would have seen “little relief under this irresponsible flat tax experiment.” The Legislature should move ahead with her proposal for reducing $1 billion in taxes over three years.
“I urge legislators to work together to cut taxes in a way that continues our economic growth and maintains our solid fiscal foundation while benefitting all Kansans, not just those at the top,” the governor said.
Jagger swagger
Rep. Adam Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Taxation Committee, pleaded with House members to repel Kelly’s veto. He said House Bill 2284 wasn’t perfect, but it would deliver tax relief the state treasury could afford. At the outset of his speech in favor of an override, he quoted Rolling Stones musician Mick Jagger.
“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you just might find you get what you need,” Smith said. “Kansans need tax relief. The perfect bill doesn’t exist. It impacts everybody different. The perfect tax relief bill looks different if you are from Kansas City versus Dodge City. It looks differently if you own your home or rent your home.”
But his reference to rock ‘n’ roll and the personal ramifications of state law tax fell on deaf ears. The final vote in the House was 81-42, which was three votes shy of the necessary margin to override Kelly.
Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, said cost of the tax reform bill approved by simple majorities of the House and Senate in January could reach $600 million annually when fully implemented. He said the tax reduction plan didn’t do enough for the middle class in Kansas. He said much of the benefit was woven into the flat tax piece, but the bill would provide a married couple earning $42,500 to $75,500 per year an income tax reduction of only 75 cents.
“Most of it goes to the top end,” Sawyer said. “We’ve got to do better for those middle class taxpayers.”
House Minority Leader Vic Miller of Topeka said true bipartisan negotiations on a middle-ground tax package could break gridlock in the Capitol. He was moved to reference a member of the Beatles music group.
“In the words of one of today’s famous philosophers, that being Paul McCartney, ‘Try to see it my way. Do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on? … We can work it out,’” Miller said.
Kelly’s take: reckless
